TEHRAN (MNA) - Ancient Iranians were fond of jewelry almost 4300 years ago and were highly skilled in producing jewelry and ornaments, Iranian archaeologists have concluded based on discoveries they made during their recent excavations at the ancient site of Shahdad in Kerman Province.

According to the head of the archaeological team, Mir-Abedin Kaboli, archaeologists discovered the ruins of a developed city with industrial and residential areas and a graveyard after fourteen stages of excavations.

Many artifacts including rare stones, jewelry, engraved stones, and jewelers tools were found at the site, proving that ancient Iranians were major producers of jewelry in ancient times, he added. The ancient residents of Shahdad used silver, lead, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and ruby to make jewelry, Kaboli said, adding, The local residents used to bring in turquoise from Afghanistan, lapis lazuli from Neishabur, and shells from the southern coast of Iran; make the jewelry, and later export it to different regions such as Central Asia, Pakistan, India, and countries on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf.

He also noted that a large cache of ornaments, including necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, has also been discovered in Shahdads ancient graveyard.

The recent excavations show that the men and women of ancient Shahdad were buried with their jewelry on their wrists, necks, and ears over 4000 years ago, he noted.

The ancient site of Shahdad is located in the western part of the Lut Desert in Kerman Province and covers an area of 60 square kilometers. The oldest awl ever discovered in Iran and several unique statues have been found at the historical site.

TEHRAN (MNA) -- A team of British and Iranian archaeologists is currently studying the archaeological sites in Bushehr, the director of the Bushehr Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department announced on Sunday.

Comprised of archaeologists from Irans Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO) and experts from Britains University of Durham, the team began its work in late November in Bushehr Province on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, added Ardeshir Mohammadi Bagh-Mollai.

Bushehr is the capital city of Bushehr Province in southwestern Iran and is located on the Persian Gulf.

The British Academy, the British Institute of Persian Studies, and another group from London are sponsoring the project. The team is led by Dr. Robert Carter from the University of Durham and Hassan Tofiqian, an expert from the CHTOS Center for Archaeological Studies.

The team is surveying the potential of the region for upcoming studies with the aim of precisely locating and mapping archaeological sites.

Bushehr Province has many potential archaeological sites, some located in urban areas, and more Iranian and foreign archaeologists are expected to work here in the future, Mohammadi said.

The team also intends to study regional settlements from the Chalcolithic periods (7000?-3500? B.C.).

Studies which have been carried out over the years show that the Persian Gulf was a trade center during the Elamite, Achaeminid, Parthian, Sassanid, and Islamic eras and traces of these civilizations have been unearthed in the region, Mohammadi stated.

Two experts from the University of Pennsylvania are to join the team to study the changes in the coastline and damage to potential archaeological sites caused by the rise in the sea level, he said in conclusion.

TEHRAN (MNA) - The team of experts working at the ruins of the Bam Citadel is trying to shed light on the reasons why children were buried within the walls of the citadel in ancient times, it was announced here on Saturday.

Archaeologists have discovered a number of ancient skeletons in the ruins of the Bam Citadel. The remains of forty-nine children have been found within the walls so far.

Anthropologist Asghar Karimi said that many of the questions of archaeologists and other experts could be answered if the reasons why children were buried within the walls of the citadel in ancient times were ascertained.

The team working on the project is hoping to find the probable roots of such a tradition by interviewing the old residents of the area, the member of the expert team added.

Such a mysterious tradition has not been observed in any other historical region of the country, Karimi said.

Anthropologist Farzad Foruzanfar also mentioned that the initial studies on the remains show that they are from the Islamic era, and no sign of disease has been observed in them.

They were children aged between one month and eight years old, both boys and girls, he added.

The Bam Citadel was almost completely destroyed by a massive earthquake on December 26, 2003.

It certainly indicates how far back the evil of Capitalism and free-market economies is rooted. Imagine, exploiting other countries for their natural resources, using your own industry to create a product, and then exporting that product for profit. There should have been a global council established (such as the UN) to greatly restrict the mining, the industry, and to skim a little of the profit off the top.

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